Photo Rumors

New Mirrorless Lenses iPhone app

By PR admin | Published: May 26, 2011

I often get confused with all the new mirrorless lenses. If you are like me, the new Mirrorless Lenses iPhone app will help you find all currently available mirrorless lenses and provide you with some the basic specs. The app is available for free on iTunes:

The Mirrorless Lenses app allows you to browse the full range of mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC) lenses. It allows you to browse all the camera and lens manufacturers based on the lens mount. This includes Micro Four Thirds, Sony E, Samsung NX and Four Thirds Mount lenses.

Posted in Apple, Noktor, Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony| Tagged iPhone apps| 7 Comments

Olympus losing market share, Sony reports worst loss in 16 years

By PR admin | Published: May 26, 2011

Here are the latest financial results from Olympus and they don’t look that good. Net sales are down 4.1%, net income dropped 84.5% compared to 2010. Here are the details for the imaging division:

Fiscal year	Market volume (In millions)	Olympus camera sales (In millions)	Olympus Market Share
05/06	67,2	8,4	12.5%
06/07	81,5	9,6	11.8%
07/08	106,3	11,3	10.6%
08/09	112,8	10,0	8.9%
09/10	113,6	9,0	7.9%
10/11	121,5	8,1	6.7%

Posted in Olympus, Sony| 17 Comments

Pentax NC-1 mirrorless camera kit will be priced around $600

By PR admin | Published: May 26, 2011

I received some information on the US pricing of the upcoming Pentax NC-1 mirrorless camera – the kit with one lens will have a MSRP in the $600 range. More lenses are expected to be released later in the year. Pentax already showed a teaser for their new mirrorless camera at a recent trade show in China. The NC-1 is expected to be announced in June, 2011.

June will be a busy month with upcoming announcements from Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Leica and possibly Samsung.

Posted in Pentax| Tagged Pentax, Pentax Auto 110 digital, Pentax NC-1| 17 Comments

Ricoh patents various unconventional GXR units

By PR admin | Published: May 26, 2011

Ricoh GXR system is rather unique since it uses a swappable cartridges that encapsulate the lens and the sensor in one piece. The last GRX product announced was a cartridge with a Leica M mount. A Micro Four Thirds GXR unit was also rumored last year.

Ricoh filed a new patent in Japan for several interesting GXR units that are completely different than the current lens+ sensor combos:

GXR Hard drive storage unit:

GXR printer unit:

Posted in Ricoh| Tagged Ricoh GXR| 17 Comments

Sigma SD1 DSLR now available for pre-order

By PR admin | Published: May 25, 2011

Adorama is the first major US store that just started taking pre-orders for the Sigma SD1 camera at $6,899:

Who is ordering one?

Posted in Sigma| Tagged Sigma SD1| 24 Comments

Sony a35: new picture effects and tele-zoom high speed shooting mode

By PR admin | Published: May 25, 2011

The new Sony a35 will have a new tele-zoom high speed shooting mode:

A new set of 11 effects will also be introduced in the upcoming a35 and NEX C-3 cameras. They will also be available as a firmware update for the older NEX 3 and NEX 5 models:

Posted in Sony| Tagged Sony a35, Sony NEX C3 camera| 5 Comments

Sony a850 is now discontinued

By PR admin | Published: May 25, 2011

The full frame Sony a850 is now officially discontinued at B&H. The camera was announced in August of 2009. The future of the Sony full frame DSLR line is unclear at that point. Sony did confirm that all future Alpha cameras will have translucent mirror technology.

Posted in Sony| Tagged Sony A850| 9 Comments

Samsung confirms the 300mm f/2.8 XF ED lens

By PR admin | Published: May 24, 2011

Samsung’s representative confirmed to AP the existence of the 300mm f/2.8 XF ED lens prototype spotted in this promotional video three weeks ago. Currently there are no definitive plans to release this lens.

Back in February, Samsung already announced five NX lenses and the 60mm f/2.8 Macro ED OIS SSA seems to be already distributed to testers. A new 700mm NX lens is also expected. This summer Samsung will release two new mirrorless cameras: NX20 and NX200.

Posted in Samsung| 5 Comments

Sigma SD1 retail price: $6,899

By PR admin | Published: May 24, 2011

The retail price of the Sigma SD1 is $6,899 – almost $3,000 less than the initial MSRP of $9,700. This also explains why the SD1 kits were priced lower than the body.

Posted in Sigma| Tagged Sigma SD1| 49 Comments

Fujifilm Finepix X100 giveaway

By PR admin | Published: May 23, 2011

The giveaway is now closed. I will announce the winner shortly.

What can I win?

In this giveaway you can win a Fujifilm Finepix X100 camera from Adorama. For those of you outside the US: Adorama was established in 1975 and is one of the major online retailers for photographic equipment in the States. They also offer classes, equipment rentals, Adorama TV, printing services and old equipment buyout program. If you are in New York, you can visit their store in Manhattan.

How do I win?

The rules are simple:

This giveaway will be closed in one month.

Posted in Fuji| Tagged Fujifilm X100, Photo Rumors giveaway| Comments closed

It’s Monday and the Sigma SD1 still costs $9700

By PR admin | Published: May 23, 2011

Sigma's website still doesn't have a price for the SD1 camera

It’s Monday and the price of the Sigma SD1 is still $9700. I guess the initial price was not a typo. The SD1 kit prices are still lower than the price of the camera.

Posted in Sigma| Tagged Sigma SD1| 14 Comments

Think Tank Photo Speed Demon v2.0 bag preview

By PR admin | Published: May 22, 2011

Few days ago Think Tank Photo released new and re-designed versions of their Speed Convertible bags. Those are hybrid bags that can be worn on the shoulder or as a belt pack. The new Speed Convertible series will be released on June 8th, 2011. You can sign up to this website and Think Tank will notify you once they get them in stock. This is a quick preview of the Speed Demon v2.0 from an early factory sample (click on each image for larger view). Check also the bigger Speed Freak v2.0 and Speed Racer v2.0 versions.

The Speed Demon can easily hold two flashes (Nikon SB-900), a pro body, a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens (reversed hood) and another lens (in this case the Nikkor 24mm f/1.4). The top lid has a small opening for quick and easy access: